Without integrating social media you would have to get more than lucky, if you wanted large numbers of viewers to watch your videos. You‘d have to be content with those viewers who find you because they search for a highly relevant topic on YouTube. This is the reason why your video marketing needs a social media strategy. Even the YouTube Creator Playbook has one chapter just on integrating Facebook, Google+ and Twitter.

For most internet users Facebook is the no. 1 social platform, and most frequently visited, making it highly relevant for video marketing. But Twitter and Google+ are also interesting for distributing a brand’s videos. It‘s not surprising that the YouTube Playbook focusses strongly on Google+, as YouTube belongs to Google. But it is a very interesting option, as you can link your YouTube channel to your Google+ account. Nevertheless, Facebook remains the no. 1 target platform.

Facebook: The Social Giant

Creating a Facebook page to promote videos on your YouTube channel is a great idea. Just as if you were promoting a DVD you can offer bonus material with photographs, personal comments, best-ofs, take outs, bloopers and more. This means that you shouldn‘t be only sharing the video itself, but also content related posts before and after the video. A good way of interacting with fans and followers is posting a video to answer relevant questions. This could be an either-or question, or asking your fans for their opinion or something like that, as this might fuel discussions, you should of course react to. You will definitely build that way a lively community around your videos on Facebook. Also ask your fans to contribute ideas for new videos, this makes preparations easier and involves your fans to strengthen engagement.

Google+: Connected to YouTube

It‘s also a good idea to combine a Google+ account with a YouTube channel. Connecting both is a breeze. After you‘ve done that, your „video“ page on G+ will be called YouTube page, and you can access all your YouTube videos there. You can either connect your YouTube channel with your existing profile or create a special profile just for that purpose - both options have some advantages. If your YouTube channel consists of personal videos about yourself, you should obviously chose your personal G+ account. A separate G+ profile on the other hand enables up to 50 admins, and makes branding easier than with a personal profile. Check out the YouTube channel switcher.

Obviously, you should be sharing your videos on Google+, to make sure many people know about it and can re-share. You can share it either publicly, with all your circles or with selected circles. Google+ pages - opposed to Google+ profiles - are set for public sharing, offering in addition the option of hangouts on air. It enables you not only for video-conferences with several persons, but allows you to stream any event onto YouTube. There‘s a special hangouts on air handbook, if you‘re interested.

Google+ Ripples allows you to view the distribution of publicly shared content. In order to view the „ripples“ of a post, just click on the Ripples arrow. You will get a graphic report of who shared your video for the last 53 days. However, this only works for those users sharing your video publicly. So, possibly your video was shared even more frequently than Ripples is telling. Nevertheless Ripples is helpful to analyze the effect your video has in the community.

Twitter: To the point with the Hashtag

There‘s a massive amount of tweets each day. If you‘re tweeting, make sure you use the typical #hashtags where possible. A video tweet should be accompanied by a text which is to the point and makes the viewer curious. The first thing which is visible of a tweet is the text, so make use of that, and motivate viewers to open the video. Twitter may be an interesting additional option, but the other social channels are stronger in terms of video marketing.

Adapt your Strategies for each Platform

You need to adapt your posts to cater to each platform. Don‘t just create a post and post it everywhere, e.g. Twitter limits the amount of text you can tweet, and be aware that there are communication differences across different platforms. If you‘re uploading videos to YouTube, you can chose the option that your videos will automatically be shared on Facebook, G+ and Twitter. However, be careful not just to bombard your followers with advertising, rather make sure to engage in conversations and build relationships. You don‘t just want to link your videos, you want to be part of a community.

If you take the time to do this properly, social media is the best way to promote your videos.

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MediaBUZZ is the first ‘pure’ digital publisher in the region, making an impact in Asia Pacific since 2004. Designed to empower marketers in the vibrant, ever-changing electronic marketing environment, its publication Asian eMarketing covers the digital age and zooms in on the most valuable and indispensable tools of today’s marketers. Circulated weekly to more than 60,000 top management and marketing decision-makers, the useful and informative articles support e-marketers in finding a sound marketing strategy, vital for their growing business success.